Turnabout Shopping
by Cabbage Corp
Summary: (AU set not long after the first game. Ema did not leave, but moved in with Phoenix as her new legal guardian.) A murdered shop-worker, an unhelpful defendant and the incompetence of Dick Gumshoe at every turn, can Phoenix and Ema solve this puzzling case?
1. Chapter 1

**Turnabout Shopping**

**8:00am, Phoenix Wright's bedroom.**

_*BEEP**BEEP**BEEP_

_Ugh, too early. Much too early._

Phoenix rolled over and slammed his hand down upon the alarm clock, knocking it to the floor. He sighed and dragged the covers over his eyes as the cold morning sun pierced the curtains.

*CRASH*

"MISTER WRIGHT! GET UP!"

Footsteps circled the bed, and the curtains drew with a hiss as light flooded the room. Phoenix groaned.

"What is it, Ema? Can I not even sleep in on weekends now? Sleep is good…love sleep…"

He yawned loudly. Ema yanked the covers away and he groaned.

"Detective Gumshoe's at the door, Mister Wright. He wants to talk to you and says we should get ready."

Phoenix looked up at her. She was already dressed in that same lab coat of hers, glasses donning her head, and a frown bearing over him.

"I take it that's why you're so chipper so early."

With a stretch, as Ema left the room, he pushed himself up and proceeded to slip in to his suit. Gumshoe's deep voice floated through the wall as Phoenix adjusted his tie.

"Not much...not you kid…"

Phoenix walked in to the living room and groaned inwardly.

_It's too early to deal with Detective Gumshoe. Then again, is there a good time to deal with him? Hmm...maybe over brunch._

"And you're here because…?"

Gumshoe's forehead wrinkled. "Don't get snarky with me buddy, it's not my fault this happened early. You try telling murderers to work to a schedule."

Ema gasped and a hand flew over her mouth. "M...m-murder? What?"

"Nick, I'm supposed to take you to the scene, given that you're the defense attorney and all. Give you a feel of the crime before you meet your client."

Phoenix spluttered in indignation. "WHAT? I'm only just up! I have no idea what's going on! You can't just say I'm the defense attorney and magically make it true!"

"Yeah but come on buddy, we both know you won't turn a case down."

Gumshoe's frown deepened as his eyes scanned the room.

"Plus you probably need the money. Look at this place...when was your last case?"

Phoenix's head slumped. "Two months ago…"

"Exactly!" Gumshoe slapped Phoenix hard on the back, knocking him forward. "I knew I could count on you, pal."

Ema pulled her glassed over her eyes and beamed.

"Yeah, come on Nick! It'll be fun!"

"You mean other than the decomposing corpse and the fact that someone brutally murdered someone else?"

"…geez, buddy."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

**8:43am, Gilt's Golden Goods bargain store.**

"…Gilt's Golden Goods" Ema muttered. "Not a very good name for a shop. Scientifically speaking, of course."

Phoenix frowned at her. "What part of that is scientific?"

"Well they could have chosen something that sounds a bit better, like, I dunno…'Gilt's Super-Awesome Golden Goods of Epicness!"

_That's still not scientific._

Gumshoe led them through the doors, flanked by two detectives, in to the cramped shop. The shop was dark, brown walls adorned with numerous bits and bobs that would have looked tacky in a rubbish heap. The aisles were narrow, dark and intense.

_It feels more like a haunted house than a shop in here._

"I changed my mind" said Emma, "super-awesome doesn't really describe this place. Super-creepy, maybe."

"I know, I know. Wish they'd stuck another detective on this, but I guess that's what I get for…well, everything. It's been pretty rough for me since I got my job back."

Ema placed a hand on his arm and smiled up at him. "Cheer up detective; me and Mister Wright will turn that frown upside down! Right, Nick?"

"Er, what…oh, er, yeah, sure thing."

_That'll happen the day Ema gives up her lab coat for a frilly dress._

Gumshoe led them to the back doors and through the dank storeroom, where they passed a forklift and numerous cardboard boxes. Ema shrieked as she brushed against a piece of string.

"I thought it was a web..."

Gumshoe led them to the emergency exit and through to the back alleyway, shadowed by the tall buildings either side. They saw the crime scene instantly, the chalk outline of a splayed body all the brighter for the dark walls. One detective remained at the scene taking photographs, with another cordoning off the entrance to the alley. Gumshoe pointed at the outline.

"No blood here, see? There should be lots of it. Here pal, check out the autopsy report."

Phoenix took the brown folder and pulled it open. It was a brief report, the main details confined to half a page.

_Lola Price, a deputy manager at the shop. Stabbed in the back with a steak knife, left face-down in the alleyway. He's right; there should be a lot of blood._

"Have you tested for blood here?"

"All the way down the alley, and the only blood here is what's left on her clothes. Not nearly enough for a wound that bad. Steak knives are big, pal, really big. The only things big enough to cut my sandwiches."

Ema giggled. "How big are your sandwiches?"

"Big enough to make most of my knives pointless. Sometimes they just break. Break like the shattered remains of my career."

_We're getting nowhere with these two _thought Nick.

"So what's the problem?"

"Well the witness says they saw the murder taking place right here. They claim that she saw the suspect plunge the knife in to the victim right here, and then run off. Funnily enough, the suspect turned themselves in only an hour after the witness called us. Odd, huh?"

_Very odd. Why would they run if they were going to turn themselves in?_

"So we have a witness who saw the murder happen, and a lot of missing blood" said Ema, tapping her chin. Gumshoe looked at Phoenix.

"Remind me why you let this kid tag along?"

"Hey I am not a kid! I am a teenager! Almost an adult!"

Phoenix sighed. Come on Ema, we better go see the defendant. What's their name, Dick?"

"Wendy Wipe. She's the shop's caretaker. Says she did it. So good luck buddy, you'll need it."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**11am, Detention Centre.**

A very short, very podgy woman sat waiting for them, her face red and her eyes wide. Her hands were tucked firmly across her lap, and she seemed to shrink slightly at the sight of Phoenix and Ema, both of whom could see her discomfort. Ema, typically, was unfazed.

"Hey! Nice to meet you! Do you have any snacks?"

_Really, Ema? Is your stomach the priority right now?_

"Er, hi! I'm Phoenix Wright, your defense attorney. I'd just like to hear your version of events before the trial tomorrow, if that's okay with you. You're…Wendy Wipe, right?"

The woman nodded quickly and her eyes frantically scanned his face. Wendy Wipe was a woman of many expressions, her wide face moving from hesitation to confusion with the slightest curl of her lip.

"Well I gotta thank ya both for the help, but I'm guilty. I did it. I don't really need a defense atturney if I'm guilty, now do I? I'd be wasting both'o your times…"

Phoenix sat down to talk to her at face-level, though he still had to bend his neck; she couldn't have been much over four feet, and her arms were more muscle than fat. _You, a killer? Come on, _he thought.

"With respect, you saying you're guilty doesn't make it so, any more than someone saying they're innocent means they didn't actually do it."

Ema frowned. "Does that mean that, when you said you didn't eat the last cookie yesterday, you actually did?"

"Not now Ema. So Miss Wipe, you turned yourself in early this morning, correct? Care to tell us what happened last night? Give me some details of this murder you claimed to commit."

Wendy gulped and nodded hastily. She rubbed her cheeks with hands, leaned back in to her chair, which creaked loudly, and she let out a loud sigh. Her movements were as stunted as she was.

"Well, Lola was a sales assistant at the shop, sometimes serving customers, sometimes organising shelves, that kinda thing. A goody-two-shoes, that kinda annoying liddle prat that always gets in your way, and she thought she was so much better than me, little old janitor…so, last night, she was on my case again, going on about summin to do with some cans or summin. 'Don't clean around those, you'll knock them down' she was goin on about for hours, and I was just tryna mop. So, well, I couldn't take it any longer. I picked up a big knife and swung at her. She screamed and ran away but I kept up and caught her in the alley, I smacked her good with it in the back, and she 'it the floor for good. I didn't mean to kill her, I…it was rage, Mister Wright. As soon as I did it I regretted it."

Phoenix allowed the silence to hang for a minute after she finished, letting her words sink in. He wasn't sure, but already this sounded odd to him, like something didn't quite fit.

_One thing's for sure, she's too hesitant. She's lying about something. I've just got to hope that something is committing the murder itself._

"Thank you Miss Wipe, that's enough for now."

"But…why would you kill someone over something like that?" asked Ema. "Couldn't you have just, like, said some strong words?"

Wendy stared at Ema with eyes full of sadness, wide as could be, and Ema actually gasped as the two made eye contact.

"Girl, there'll be lots of thing in life that you don't understand. Think'it a lesson. If that's definitely it then I'll be catching some bewty sleep."

_I know you're lying to us _thought Phoenix as him and Ema walked away, _and I'll work out the truth._


End file.
